The Lycan King’s Mark (Nevara) by Tiffanie L. Campbell novel Chapter 153

Chapter 153 – The Old Ways

Chapter 153 – The Old Ways

Nevara

The road wasn’t on any map.

25 Pomts

Kael had confirmed it twice–once against the digital grid and again against the satellite overlay–and both times it came back the same. The path didn’t exist unless you already knew where to look for it.

Which meant it had been hidden intentionally.

And that meant whoever lived out here didn’t want to be found.

The SUVS moved slowly beneath the canopy, tires crunching over uneven dirt and stone as the forest closed in around us. Branches scraped softly along the sides of the vehicles, the sound sharp in the otherwise suffocating quiet. Even the air felt heavier this far north, thicker somehow, like the land itself had settled into something older than the world we were used to.

I watched the narrow path stretch ahead of us, barely visible beneath the overgrowth, and felt a familiar tension coil low in my chest.

“They didn’t just stumble into this place,” I said, more to myself than anyone else. “This was built to disappear.”

Kael nodded without taking his eyes off the road.

“Which usually means they have a reason to stay hidden.”

Thoren didn’t say anything, but I felt the shift beside me–the way his attention sharpened, the way his hand brushed briefly against mine like a silent grounding point before he pulled it away again.

Noah.

Everything kept circling back to that.

Kael tapped his comms.

“Shift team, respond.”

A beat of static, then a voice came through, low and controlled.

“In position.”

Kael glanced at the screen mounted near the dash, recalibrating the route based on the drone’s last

sweep.

“Adjust your heading fifteen degrees east. There’s a concealed access road leading into a settlement. Hold outside the perimeter. I don’t want you within scent range unless I give the order.”

“Copy that.”

“Stay downwind,” Thoren added calmly. “If they rely on old–world tracking, scent will be their first line of

4 Chapter 153 – The Old Ways

defense.”

“Understood.”

$25 Poults

The line went quiet again, and the SUV fell back into silence–though this time it wasn’t empty. It was charged. Every mile forward felt like we were pressing deeper into something we didn’t fully understand yet.

The trees began to thin just enough for light to filter through.

Then the road opened.

Not into a clearing.

Into a settlement.

I straightened slightly, my eyes scanning everything at once.

It wasn’t large, but it was deliberate. Structures made from wood and stone stood spaced apart rather

than clustered, each one built with purpose instead of convenience. There were no visible power lines, no modern infrastructure, no signs of technology woven into daily life.

Smoke drifted from chimneys. Narrow footpaths cut through the space instead of roads. Everything about it felt… self–contained.

Like the outside world simply didn’t exist here.

“Off–grid,” Thoren said quietly, his tone edged with something sharper than curiosity.

Kael slowed the vehicle as figures began to emerge from between the buildings.

“We’re not alone,” he murmured.

We already knew that.

We just hadn’t seen them yet.

The SUVS came to a controlled stop, engines idling low as the doors opened. I stepped out with the others, the air colder here, cleaner in a way that made it almost unsettling.

They surrounded us quickly.

Not aggressively–but efficiently.

A dozen men, maybe more, stepping into position with the kind of coordination that came from long practice rather than formal training. Their presence wasn’t loud, but it was undeniable, and the message didn’t need to be spoken aloud.

We weren’t in control here.

“You’ll come with us,” one of them said.

No greeting. No attempt at diplomacy.

Chapter 151

The Old Ways

Just expectation.

They moved in close enough to disarm us without resistance. Thoren allowed it without comment, Kael the same, and I stood still as one of them checked me quickly, his touch brief and impersonal before he stepped back.

Then they guided us forward.

The walk through the settlement felt like being assessed from every direction at once. People didn’t hide their attention. They watched openly–measured, deliberate, as if we were something to be evaluated rather than feared.

It wasn’t curiosity.

It was judgment.

We were led to the largest structure at the center of the settlement, and when the doors opened, the shift in atmosphere was immediate. Warmth wrapped around us, thick with the scent of wood smoke and something herbal that lingered in the air.

And waiting inside-

Them.

The Alpha and Luna.

Thoren stepped forward slightly, his posture relaxed but unmistakably dominant.

“You’re the acting Alpha of-”

“Yes,” the man interrupted smoothly. “Brent Englewood.”

His voice carried quiet authority, the kind that didn’t need to be raised to be felt.

He gestured toward the woman beside him.

“And my wife, Tamsin.”

Her gaze moved to me.

And stayed there.

Recognition sharpened her expression, though it was anything but welcoming.

“Nice to see you again, Nevara.”

There was something beneath the words–something pointed.

Thoren glanced at me.

“You know her?”

I studied her more closely this time, searching for something solid to attach the familiarity to.

Chapter 153 – The Way She did look familiar.

But it was distant.

Faint.

1. recognize her, I admitted slowly. “I just can’t place where.”

Tamsin let out a quiet, humorless laugh.

That’s disappointing.”

Her eyes narrowed slightly.

“I would have thought you’d remember your own sister–in–law.”

The room stilled around us.

“Well,” she added coolly, “former sister–in–law. Since Tobias is dead.”

Her gaze didn’t waver.

“Because you killed him.”

Ah.

There it was.

I exhaled softly, tilting my head as the memory finally clicked into place.

“Oh.”

A brief pause.

Then I shrugged.

“I forgot Tobias had a sister.”

That landed exactly how I intended it to.

Her jaw tightened.

“My brother and I were close,” she said.

“Then he didn’t feel the need to share that with me,” I replied evenly. “I met you once. At the wedding.”

Her expression didn’t soften.

“Interesting.”

“It is,” I agreed lightly. “Although, in his defense, he and I weren’t exactly close either. He was a little too busy being obsessed with my brother’s wife to focus on anything else.”

The tension in the room shifted–subtle, but unmistakable.

Thoren stepped in before it could sharpen further, his tone calm but deliberate.

Chapter 153

The Old Ways

25 Purity

“This place,” he said, glancing around. “It’s an Interesting choice. Living completely off–grid like this.”

Brent didn’t take offense.

If anything, he seemed pleased by the observation.

“This is the way of the northern wolves,” he said. “We believe in the world as it was before it was reshaped by convenience.”

His gaze held steady.

“Before technology. Before expansion. Before everything became diluted.”

I felt the weight of that word settle.

Diluted.

“We value bloodlines,” he continued. “Separation. Self–governance.”

His attention shifted to Thoren.

“As it was intended.”

Thoren’s expression didn’t change, but his voice cooled.

“And yet you’ve maintained ties with the Lycan kingdom.”

“A long–standing one,” Brent confirmed. “Established three kings ago.”

Thoren frowned slightly.

“My great–grandfather?”

“Yes.”

A brief pause stretched between them.

“I’m surprised you weren’t informed.”

Thoren exhaled slowly.

“I’m not my ancestors.”

His hand brushed mine again, grounding.

“That much was made clear the day I discovered my fated mate was a wolf.”

Something flickered in Brent’s expression.

Recognition.

“Oh, I remember that.”